Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening Preview

IGN managed to get their hands on an early build of Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening, and have since slapped up an informative (if a little bit too revealing) two-page preview based on their first few hours with the expansion.

Vigil’s Keep is staffed by a number of notable characters who are able to enhance the Warden’s experience either by offering necessary services or helping to advance the story. The Circle has sent an enchanter to help improve the Warden’s weapons, and one of the merchants saved in the attack has agreed to stay on and sell his wares at a significant discount.

The Warden also finds mail waiting at Vigil’s Keep. These letters and petitions can help start new quests. At the beginning the Warden will have to consider the plight of a vassal whose daughter has been kidnapped by pirates, and that of a widow whose farm is being beset by Darkspawn. As usual, these side quests may seem incidental, but they wind up intersecting with the main arc of the story in interesting ways.